Whatsapp has added the option of recording and sending voice messages to its
smartphone application.

The smartphone messaging service, which is used by 300 million people worldwide every month, has until now only offered the possibility of text-based chat.

It is hoped the move will help the smartphone app compete with chat rivals BBM, Facebook Messenger and WeChat, which already offer voice messaging services.

The new function could also make the software more popular in countries with harder-to-type languages – such as Russia, where the 33 letters in the Cyrillic alphabet are often crammed onto narrow touchscreen buttons – or in areas with lower rates of literacy.

The add-on, which has been in development for six months, will not place a limit on the length of voice messages sent. Users can record messages in a single tap, holding down on their screen for as long as they are speaking.

“The number of taps matters. People want to send a message and be on their way,” said Jan Koum, the California-based company’s CEO.